This is probably a very good “first” book, if you are unfamiliar with Charles de Lint’s work and want to see if he’s an author you’d enjoy. He’s one of my faves, but I’ve also been reading his stuff since… oh, the early 1990s, so I may be biased. *wink*

This is a Young Adult fantasy novel. As with all of de Lint’s work (that I’ve read), it’s urban fantasy of the type I adore: regular people living the regular, everyday world encounter the fantastic and discover that faerie is real.

Imogene is the girl from the wrong side of the tracks (Tyson), new to her school in Newford when she meets Maxine, an outcast from early on due to her smarts and… shall we say “conservative” wardrobe. Imogene, anything but conservative (she spent the first ten years of her life on a hippie commune in Ontario), befriends Maxine, and the two girls have a good influence on each other.

Then they meet a ghost, who is friends with some fairies. And then things get a bit scary, and a bit weird, and Imogene and Maxine will never be the same.

One of my favourite parts of this book is when Imogene’s mother finds out about faerie and is able to see Imogene’s childhood “imaginary friend” (because they are actually real, you know) and deals with it okay… and then when Imogene’s brother, Jared, comes in and is also able to see Pelly (short for Pell-Mell), he totally takes it all in stride – as though seeing Pelly makes perfect sense, is perfectly logical, and is an everyday occurrence.

So yeah, definitely read this one. Read it if you love Charles de Lint. Read it if you’ve never read Charles de Lint. Read it if you didn’t like something else he’s written – maybe this will change your mind. (Oh, also, not all of his stuff is YA, but most of it does occur in the same world – that is, characters who are featured in some books will be mentioned or be minor characters in others.)